Whitewater kayaking has made leaps and bounds since the early '70s, but will the sport ever reach its ragged edge? Pioneers of the sport provide their insights on life, death, and the delicate balance between.

Born in 1989 in a small town in the mountains of Colorado, a whitewater rafting guide was fed up with soggy sneakers began selling his homemade sport sandals to some of his clients and fellow guides. Chaco became a cultural phenomenon with a passionate following, and today still makes some of the best-selling sport sandals on the market.